Evacuation (The Seamus Chronicles Book 2) by K. D. McAdams Read Free Book Online Page B

through logic with everyone else as they read. The back of my mind is churning on the whole “get us off the planet” thing. Somehow I think we have to be radical and not just attempt to de-mothball the space shuttle.
    “Well I think that was probably the weirdest night in any of our lives,” Dad says, stepping to the front of the room. “I think we need to start with the first issue. Are we dealing with the ‘sore loser virus’?”
    “None of us have ever heard that term before yesterday. Based on the way our colleagues in Chicago were working and what Jane has said, I think it is fair to assume that it was the sore loser virus,” William answers.
    “I agree, but I would love to be able to prove it,” Dad says, turning to the whiteboard and drawing. On the left he has written “Sore Loser” and coming off of that to the right is a sideways V. At the end of the top branch he has written “No” and at the end of the bottom branch he has written “Yes.” After the “No,” he’s drawn one line and written “Plan B” at the end. I should have known that there would be a “Plan B” with Dad involved. “If it turns out that this is NOT the sore loser virus, we can come up with a new course of action. For the immediate future, however, I think we need to move forward with planning based on the assumption that we are dealing with ‘sore loser.’”
    There are nods around the room.
    “Okay. Assuming we’re facing sore loser, what’s the first step?” He’s surveying the room for an answer. His gaze met with silence.
    “Listen,” he says, slowly sitting in a chair. “The idea to destroy the human race was proposed and adopted. None of you can propose a worse idea.” He lets this sink in for almost a full minute. “I’m going to get things started, but I need the rest of you to speak up. It’s a whiteboard, we can erase things.”
    He takes a long drink of coffee and returns to the whiteboard. “Step one: follow the response protocol.” He speaks while he writes it down. After a short pause, there are no ideas for step two, so he continues, “Step two: figure out how to launch a rocket.”
    “I think a rocket is a bad idea,” Cassandra says and she’s used poor word choice. “We have a proposal to use one of the new space planes as a test platform for our solar sail. I think that is a better route than a rocket.”
    “Disagree,” William says, shaking his head. “My vote is for a Soyuz space capsule to the international space station. We need to go with proven, reliable technology.”
    “Do we really have to leave the Earth?” Grace asks, grasping at straws. “Why can’t we ride it out in a fallout shelter? That’s what they were designed for.”
    “How about a submarine?” Liam is onboard with the ‘no dumb ideas’ concept, except this is a dumb idea.
    Dad is losing control of the meeting. He’s swung from generalizations to details and is allowing us to go down a rat hole. We need to find some order in the chaos. The project has to be broken down into pieces. Pieces can be solved and brought together as a whole.
    “The space station, a fallout shelter and even a submarine, Liam, will not work. We cannot collect and store enough clean air and water to keep humans alive for the next one hundred years.” He knows we have to move on but can’t find the right words.
    “If we have more than three pieces, we don’t stand a chance.” Mom has stood up and is walking to the board. Dad got us started in the right direction; Mom needs to come in and make it happen.
    “Seamus was right last night. It is a three-step plan,” Mom says. She has erased everything but the Sore Loser Virus and its branches. Now she is writing as she talks: “1. Follow response protocol? I’m adding the question, William; I’m not convinced we should use resources on this. 2. Leave the planet and 3. Nuke the planet.”
    I cannot be the first one to agree with her since it was basically my plan. William